


Phantom Beach

by ShadesOfGrey



Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: Day At The Beach, F/M, Friendship, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, no more editing after this (until i figure out italics) gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:07:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26275372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadesOfGrey/pseuds/ShadesOfGrey
Summary: 4 buddies are out at a beachIThe title says it all
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair/Kieran White
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Phantom Beach

The beach was a beautiful place. Always had been, always will be.

Lauren Sinclair specially adored them, although the sand was a hassle to deal with. It was something out of a novel — a rushing sea, rumbling clouds, a distant, cheering person shouting about sand castles. Right out of a novel.

“I did it!” Kym Ladell cheered, her eyes sparkling with triumph. Patting the top of a sand tower, she stuck a little makeshift flag into it; the flimsy twig held up a piece of torn cloth, waving around a weak flag.

Immediately after, a pair of two running boys destroyed it. Their quick footsteps kicked up sand, knocking around rocks. Unfortunately for Kym, the sand castle had been in their path.

“No!” Kym cried, anguished and destroyed. “I’ll get you two back for this!”

Kym really didn’t need to; both stumbled over something and fell, though it seemed like Kieran White got the upper hand and tackled the other.

“Hey!” protested William Hawkes, a fallen fool.

“Gotcha! Now you owe me twenty,” Kieran barked, laughing all the while.

“I don’t have money!”

“Then give me twenty push-ups!”

“On  _ sand _ ?” Will asked, confused over all else.

“Hey, I don’t make the rules!”

Will stammered out some sort of protest, then proceeded with the push-ups regardless. These three goofs — co-workers and close friends — were the same ones that practically dragged Lauren out here. Something about taking a break from city life. Lauren couldn’t recall whatever half-baked excuse brought her to the beach, only that Kieran wanted her and that was the end of that.

Being reminded of Kieran’s pleading puppy eyes had Lauren audibly laugh. It was such a sweet, serene scene, and from a blubbering buffoon like him, too.

“What’s so funny?” Kieran asked. He’d gone from shouting numbers at Will to sitting beside her; the two rest on large boulders overlooking the ocean. It’s turned a darker shade of blue, Lauren idly noticed. Before, it was a much brighter, more energetic hue, and now...

“Nothing,” Lauren said, a bitterness stinging her tone.

“I can tell it’s  _ something _ ,” Kieran replied, running a hand through her hair. Aggressively, Lauren slapped it free and demanded it never happen again. “Yeesh, talk about harsh.”

Lauren glanced over to the ocean once again. Something new replaced the horizon; it was no longer a painting’s soft yellow and orange. Distant, warm-grey boulders dappled the horizon, as if they were distant mountains, though it was clear that it was an individual island. Black, rolling clouds frolicked the sky, guided with dashes of white lightning. Lauren blinked once — the vision remained, twice, her uneasiness beginning to set in, thrice, and it was gone.

Gone? That can’t be right. 

Hesitantly, Kieran said something, his words careful and hollow. Muffled, too; Lauren wasn’t quite catching onto them.

“Lauren?” he repeated, hands in his lap. “Your eyes went all glassy, you alright?”

Exhausted, Lauren released a deep sigh. “Yes, Kieran, I’m  _ alright _ .” 

“Okay, then.” It was clear as — well, not so much day, especially  _ to _ day — glass, that Kieran didn’t buy anything. He gazed over Lauren, a concerned expression suppressed in his face, then looked away. As if he couldn’t bear to make eye contact. “If you say you’re okay, I’m gonna go build a sand castle with Kym.”

“Didn’t you knock hers down? She’s not going to be all that happy.”

“Pfft, it’s fine.”

It was not, in fact, fine. 

Kym pulled Kieran in some argument, at one point involving Will and the whole reason they came. From the distance, and away from the fight, Lauren found it entertaining, watching the two bicker. Like cat and dog, she numbly thought. Thing is, who would be the cat and who the dog?

That was decided fairly quickly enough when Kym tried to slap Kieran. In a heated moment, she shouted, “bastard!” and threw her hand across his face. Disappearing, Kieran had ducked and moved beside his attacker in a single, inhumane fluid movement; “nope,” he scowled, slamming his palm against her neck.

“Hey!” Kym squealed, rubbing the back of her head. “That damn  _ hurt _ !”

“Good,” Kieran huffed. He crossed his arms tightly and kicked at the sand, trying to seem stubborn. Instead, it came off more as envious, or maybe childish. Childish was a better word.

Kym attempted again, but was caught from behind by Will. 

“Nuh-uh-uh,” Will replied, waving a finger in the air. “That’s not a good thing to do.”

“Wha — he started it!”

“I saw the entire fight,” Lauren declared. Less of a warrior’s fight, more of a child’s tussle, but still a fight nonetheless. “Kieran started it.”

“Hey!” he exclaimed, betrayed sadness in his eyes. 

“To be fair, you  _ did  _ destroy her sand castle,” Lauren added. 

“That’s right!” Kym proclaimed. 

Will let go of Kym’s arm, only to watch it attempt another slap across Kieran’s face. Again, the man (perhaps a cat?) dodged, swiping to the right and falling to the ground. He made a face and crossed his legs, looking upset for having lost the feud.

“Fine,” Kieran grumbled; “I’m  _ sorry _ ,” he muttered.

“You’re  _ what _ ?” Kym trilled eagerly.

“I’m  _ sorry _ ,” he repeated in a much louder, brutish tone. 

A faint rumble struck the distance. Lauren sat upright, startled. 

“Eh? Lauren, you okay?” Now, it was William Hawkes’ turn to ask. 

Suppressing any quiver, Lauren exhaled that she was fine. Nothing was wrong. 

What a liar she was — the thunder came again, louder, ringing in her ears. A rush of salt engulfed her nose, suffocating her lungs. It pulled her into a wild fit of coughs, gasping and wheezing, unaware that she was in pain until the world cleared. Will was at her back, patting her softly, Kym and Kieran still in a debate.

“You slapped me first,” Kieran argued.

“You trampled Castle le Seud!”

“Those aren’t real words!”

“Ignore those two,” Will lightly said. “They’re idiots.”

Yeah, but they’re  _ my  _ idiots, Lauren thought. 

She and Will both sat and watched the sea for who-knows-how-long. They arrived late afternoon, and now the sun begun to change the sky; a deep, umbra orange, the higher clouds a mix of red-pink. Those closer to the horizon looked a deep, reddish-brown, as if soaked with some kind of Coca-Cola soda.

Will nudged at Lauren, pointing to Kieran and Kym; “look, they’re sleeping babies,” he whispered.

They’d ceased their fighting, but mostly because Kieran had sat on shore and stared at his feet. Water climbed the beach, fell back down, and repeated again. He didn’t seem open to contact, if at all, and might’ve even dozed off. Several meters away, Kym was building yet another castle, crafting a large moat and digging out a hole beside it.

“Yeah, they kinda are,” Lauren remarked. It was a peaceful evening, still and silent.

“Hey, you wanna go for a swim?”

“A swim? Sure, why not?”

The suddenness to that question made Lauren feel unsure about her answer, but sucked it up. She came here to swim, why not swim?

It had awoken the other two to join, the idea of a dip into the sea an exciting one.

“I’m gonna get stung by a jellyfish!” Kym exclaimed. 

“That’s not a very good idea!” Will cried, trying to restrain the child from poking a floating, white jellyfish. 

With Will having to deal with that situation, it left Lauren Sinclair alone with Kieran White. He’d still been in a trance, staring, unblinking, and being a relatively unmoving person, until someone tapped him on the head.

Kieran blinked a few times and looked up to the tapper. Lauren grinned and waved in front of his face.

“Eh?”

“You wanna go out for a swim?” Lauren asked, crossing her fingers and holding her hands. Another moment of thunder struck the distance, but she ignored it. No, if there was a storm, she simply would stick to the coastline. This was a time to relax.

“Sure.”

Smiling back, Kieran hoisted himself onto his feet. Swaying unsteadily for a second or two, he regained his balance and latched onto Lauren’s arm. “A swim together, you say?”

“Perhaps.”

“Do you even know how to swim?”

Lauren hesitated, then protested she could. Probably.

“Well, that’ll make for a treat.” 

For an early-twenties male, Kieran was as strong a swimmer as Lauren expected. Maybe even more. He spent half an hour showing off being able to do proper strokes, diving beneath the surface. He laughed, held a cheeky smile, looking far more synchronized than Lauren could ever be. At one point, he glided his hands across the ground and picked up a rock.

“A special rock,” Kieran explained, blinking saltwater out of his eyes. It was smooth, an oval, holding a white-yellow gradient. Not much else to say about it.

“How so? Does it have special powers?”

Kieran grinned widely, genuine happiness in his face. He hadn’t looked that happy for so long. “Well, it’s my rock! A gift from me to you, you might say.”

Placing it in Lauren’s palm, Kieran wrapped her hands around it. “Whatcha think?”

“It’s beautiful,” Lauren replied, curling her fingers. Although a bit heavy, maybe half a kilogram, it suddenly meant so much more.

“Just like you, huh?”

Lauren ushered a quick thanks before an incoming wave shoved her head beneath the waters. 

Alarmed, she nearly dropped the rock when resurfacing. No need to worry, though. Kieran not only picked her up, arm beneath hers, leg propping her body up, but reaffirmed a grip on the slippery rock. Ensuring he’d keep the possession safe. Once he double checked that everything was alright, that she knew what she was doing, he was off. 

“I’m gonna go sit by the shore,” Kieran called out, already wading through the waters. “Call for me if you need any help! Lifeguard’s a friendly guy.”

Then, Lauren was alone. 

Left in a tranquil loneliness, without an ache for human companionship; she hadn’t felt a yearning to be by Kieran again. Insteadc she felt at inner peace, as if all the world’s problems were solved at that moment. The waters picked at her skin, tugged at her clothes. Sloshed around, their waves were minute and negligent, easily fought back against. Their soft swishes as they made contact with other objects. 

Lauren set down her head, stretching out her limbs. Laying flat on her back, she gazed to the sky. All those spinning clouds, twirling around. 

Occasionally, a gust of wind pushed a thin layer of water over her face. Having left reality itself, Lauren was unbothered. A little fish nudged at her leg before darting off — again, she didn’t move. When Lauren  _ did  _ move, she’d become acutely aware of the constant taste of salt in her mouth. 

“Blech.” 

Exhausted, Lauren had made the decision to return to shore. Her leg reached out to try and find land; as it dipped lower and lower, her neck aching and her chin straining to keep above, she discovered there  _ wasn’t  _ land to be found. No reassuring sand, not even as her head slipped and her arms flailed. Terrified, Lauren let herself sink deeper, her feet finally finding a hold, and kicked upwards. 

Heaving, Lauren kicked skittishly. Her arms flailed and flapped, heavy and soaked. Land. Where was land? Where was Kieran?

“Kieran!” Lauren screamed, her word lost as a wave crashed over her head. The loud hit left her ears ringing, her chest burning; water rushed up her nose, into her lungs. Coughing, trying to find oxygen, Lauren kicked again. “Kieran!” she helplessly repeated.

Where was the sky? The surface? Oxygen? Air? One inhale was air, fresh, salty air, the next, a lungful of fiery, burning water.

The clouds from before darkened to black, coating what was once a beautiful, crimson sunset to a charcoal mess of purple. Light, deprived from the missing sun, only came from crackles of lightning. 

“Kieran, help!” 

Another wave, another flash of black. Lauren tried to grab at something, anything, clawing at the sea tossing her around. Nothing. Even if there was a ladder hanging before her, she wouldn’t be able to see it. 

Kieran. Where was he? He said he’d help.

Something hard slammed into Lauren, shaking up her thoughts. Her already-addled mind struggled to process it, thinking she was dead. Water shoved her up against it once again; the confounded woman grasped at the hard thing, finding a ledge for her fingers to grab. It was slippery, but not smooth.

Lauren’s nails hurt. She was aware of that, in the numbness of her muscles. Coughing, hacking up what looked like blood with saltwater, Lauren barely,  _ barely _ climbed up. One breath. Two breaths. 

“Kieran, Kieran, help,” she sputtered, clawing at her chest. In response, the storm spat out a shattering lightning bolt. A singed smell of burnt  _ something  _ drifted in the air. After a second’s pause, Lauren realized it wasn’t her. Lucky for now.

Not so lucky, after. The already-flickering light, meager and meek, ceased. Tides roared, contemplating whether or not they should fight. They thrashed against one another, sweeping up Lauren with them.

The angry, swelled storm thought nothing of Lauren. She tried to keep her head above the surface, breathe by the least. Her efforts were to no avail — a clawing wave, dragging her back. Lauren spread out her arms, pushing through the water, and trying to get to the bottom. Her mind tried to piece together cracked, partially-formed plans. In a ways, one worked.

Get to the bottom, kick, and get back up, Lauren thought. She mentally repeated that, over and over. Get to the bottom. Find a way to get back up. Immediately, she lost her train of thought. The waves that swallowed her body spit her back out; her arms swung at the surface, trying to find land.

A distant beach.

A shrieking figure, barely heard.

“Kieran!” Lauren shouted.

It screamed back. 

Kieran.

Lauren’s heart pounded with a fear she’d be lost out at sea. Something picked her up — a god’s hand, maybe, wrapping their fingers around her chest. It pulled her into the air, clawing at her soul. For a moment, Lauren was suspended, frozen. She couldn’t breathe, and dared not to try. 

Up here, in the charcoal clouds, the beach and it’s connecting land was so far away, so small, but for an entirely different reason. Small figures were on the beach, little ants scrambling around. A big rectangle with flashing lights. Another thing that could be a car. A tiny, white square that was clearly the lifeguard’s tower. If only they’d noticed Lauren sooner.

All sounds ceased, too, all silent in Lauren’s deafened ears. It was a strange moment, one that could’ve lasted forever, had she not moved.

_ Thump _ . 

A heartbeat later, Lauren felt herself helplessly falling through the sky. She couldn’t scream, nor beg for help. Her throat was worn away by rough saltwater. 

_ Thump. _

Lauren’s back was thrown to the sandbed, slamming against a series of hard rocks. The same rocks where Kieran sifted through to find that special one. Faint reminders knitted themselves in Lauren’s mind — she’d find him, he’d find her. She’d be saved.

Caught in a disagreement between the two tides, Lauren felt something pierce her skin. A flying rock, maybe, or a fish’s fins as they tried to flee. Lauren writhed and fought. Get a grip on the rocks, she told herself. A big one. A heavy one. That, she did, and she tried to hold on. Kick. Surface. Breathe.

_ Thump. _

The ocean seemed to want to punish Lauren for fighting back. It grabbed her by the throat, tried to strangle her. It poured into her lungs. She couldn’t hold her breath.

It’s safe to breath, her mind reassured. The water’s safe. There’s dissolved oxygen here. You can breathe.

Oh, what a liar Lauren was.

_ Thump. _

Deeply inhaling, Lauren could only choke and try to exhale. The water wouldn’t escape her lungs. She clawed and trudged, and eventually, she latched onto something. Thin, rough, coarse. Her frail fingers, numbed from the cold, tried to hold on. Just wrap them. Just curl them. Just hold on.

The thing moved, slipping free. Another wave. 

_ Thump. _

Lauren couldn’t tell if she was crying, if her eyes were bleeding, or if her face was on fire. Whatever the case, it was all she could focus on. The pain, the pain that burned through the numbness. Another muffled rumble. Some kind of splash, tearing through the water. A faint light, a faint figure. Someone’s silhouette.

Her legs locked up, her arms freezing as ice overtook her veins. 

Move, move, Lauren’s mind insisted. Move, only a little. Just a little more. Her body disobeyed, reminded of all the lies from before. Sinking like a pitiful rock, or maybe an anchor thrown from a ship’s side, Lauren felt the world vanish above her.

_ Thump. _

Something clung onto her arm, hoisting her heavy, tired, broken body back up. The waves thought otherwise — one crashed over the boat, swallowing it entirely, but somehow,  _ somehow _ , it hadn’t fallen. It teetered side to side, uneasy, shaking, just as much as Lauren, but remained upright. A strike of envy flashed through her chest.

Words were being shouted. Some foreign language. Lauren couldn’t hear them, though she desperately wanted to. She couldn’t speak any, couldn’t reassure.

_ Thump. _

The world was gone, the black sky overtaking all else. Lauren couldn’t understand anything, and she wasn’t sure she even wanted to. Deep, careful breaths. Shaky, but still careful. With every inhale, every exhale, the tremble was a little less. The warmth a little more… there.

Someone held her hand. A warm someone, to be exact. Whispering softly, singing a gentle song; “des yeux qui font baisser les miens, un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche.”

“Kieran?” Lauren croaked. Her throat  _ burned  _ at the attempt to talk, every single letter scraping her flesh until it was raw and bloody.

Kieran immediately ceased his song. “Lauren! You’re awake. Don’t talk. You almost drowned.”

Most of his words were muffled by what felt like cotton balls in Lauren’s ears. That was okay, though; she understood the sentiment in Kieran’s words, the dejection in his tone. The sadness and desperation.

“I have to go, now. They say you’ll be better by tomorrow.”

Tomorrow came fairly quickly. After Kieran had gotten up and left, his back turned, a final glance over Lauren’s way, after the door had shut behind him, she proceeded to pass out. She’d wake up in random times, trying to talk with someone, or maybe eat? 

Something important, anyway. Most of her time was spent asleep.

When Kieran and the others came, Lauren couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. Her heart might’ve even burst. 

Will brought a basket with balloons and a “get well soon” card attached to it, looking rather sheepish about the gift. Kym was busy scolding the man, but had come over to give Lauren a great, big, bear hug. 

Kieran was by her side at all times, holding her hand.

“The storm took a lot of people off-guard,” Kieran explained gently, kneeling down by her side. “You were  _ very  _ lucky.” 

There was a momentary pause as Kieran dug around for something. As he continued on, he slipped a familiar-feeling rock into Lauren’s hand. “You swallowed some sand, had a lot of water in your system, but somehow, kept breathing. You were easy...ish to resuscitate. I don’t know, I didn’t do it.”

“Good to know,” Lauren rasped. Even though her ears had cleared and some medicine soothed her throat, it still hurt to talk. “Hey, Kieran?”

“Yeah?”

“What would’ve happened if I didn’t resurface?”

Kieran scowled at that, contorting his frown and squinting. He turned his face and looked to the wall, finding a deep interest in the bland whiteness to it. “Well, sucks to suck. You’d be bound to die, anyway, to the Phantom Scythe.”

“Talk about a reality check and a half!” Kym remarked, eating a chocolate from Will’s basket.

“That’s for Lauren,” Will scolded.

Lauren simply laughed. Although it hurt her chest, to be wheezing and giggling, it felt nice.

“I love you guys, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> #NotSorry


End file.
